Console Submission Documents
PS3 Submission= bf3logo.png PS3 CONCEPT SUBMISSION For the first time ever, One Battlefront, No Limits. ' PS3_1.jpg ' Star Wars Battlefront III explodes onto the Next-Generation with the biggest and most complete Star Wars battles ever. For the first time you can fight on the ground, fly into space, fight your way onto an enemy ship – and come back again all in one seamless battle. Visual Appeal The Star Wars Battlefront III art aims to match the look of the Star Wars movies as closely as possible. *'Star Wars Realism': Meticulous care is being taken to ensure that the look of the game is consistent with the Star Wars movies. *'Explosions, Lasers, and other Effects': Spectacular explosions will leave behind the charred remains of vehicles and structures. Weather effects such as wind and snow will bring the environments of each fight to life, such as the frozen wastelands of Hoth. *'Iconic Star Wars Effects':The game will feature iconic Star Wars effects such as force powers, laser blasts, lightsabers, *'Star Wars Scale': The enormous scale of the Star Wars universe will be brought to life as players fly from the ground, into space, and come face to face with a Star Destroyer. *'The Characters': Familiar faces from all 6 Star Wars films will make appearances throughout the game. We will also create a few characters expressly for BattleFront III, and possibly use characters created for other Star Wars games. All characters will be consistent and make sense in their context within the Star Wars Universe. **EX-101 / Alias TBD **EX-102 / Carso Iza **Duron Iza **Jedi Master Ferroda **Luke Skywalker **Leia Organa (Princess Leia) **Darth Vader **Plo Koon **Lando Calrissian *'A Thrilling New Story': Live an epic saga spanning all six Star Wars films through the eyes of a soldier cloned from a Jedi Master. Begin your journey fighting for the Grand Army of the Republic in the Clone Wars. After learning of the true evil of the Emperor, reject your past and fight against the Empire with the Rebel Alliance. In the end, battle against an evil clone of yourself and his sinister army. Only then will you fulfill your destiny and become a Jedi. Overview Eighteen years before the invasion of Naboo in Episode 1, a Jedi Master and his Padawan are forced to make an emergency landing on Kamino. The Padawan, a young man named Duron Iza, is badly injured. The Kaminoans offer him treatment, and then send the Jedi on their way. In secret, the Kaminoans create two clones using Duron Iza’s genetic material. The prime clone, EX-101, and the backup, EX-102, are extensively trained in a number of different combat disciplines. To the disappointment of the Kaminoans however, neither clone demonstrates any skill with the Force during their training. When the Clone Wars break out, EX-101 and EX-102 are called into battle under the leadership of Jedi Master Ferroda. In battle alongside the Jedi, the two clone brothers’ latent Force powers begin to develop. But, because they had no formal Jedi training, they draw on the Force to enhance their combat abilities rather than using traditional Force powers. As the story unfolds, the player will participate in all 3 Star War movies from the eyes of EX-102, feeling the thrill of victory in famous Star Wars settings. Along the way they’ll learn the truth about their clone heritage, be found a traitor to the Empire, and outcast by their own clone brother EX-101. In the end, the two clones clash for a final time in a spectacular battle for the fate of the galaxy. Innovation Game Hooks and Unique Features *'The Vertical Battlefront': For the first time ever, the battle rages simultaneously on land and in space, and you can travel seamlessly between them in one epic living battle. Your actions on one front will have an immediate impact on the other. Fire an Ion Cannon from the ground to disable the shields on the enemy’s Star Destroyer in space. Then, blast off in a starfighter and land in the Star Destroyer’s hangar. Fight your way to the bridge, and then bombard the enemy’s position on the ground below. *'A Thrilling New Story': Live an epic saga spanning all six Star Wars films through the eyes of a soldier cloned from a Jedi Master. Begin your journey fighting for the Grand Army of the Republic in the Clone Wars. After learning of the true evil of the Emperor, reject your past and fight against the Empire with the Rebel Alliance. In the end, battle against an evil clone of yourself and his sinister army. Only then will you fulfill your destiny and become a Jedi. *'A Force-powered Warrior': In the single-player story, combine elite military training with the power of the Force to dominate the Battlefront with incredible new abilities. Slow down time and fire your pistols with flawless accuracy while dodging incoming fire, snipe an enemy from an incredible distance, and even use your Force Sense to evade a thermal detonator seconds before it explodes. *'Bone-crushing Melee Combat': Take the fight up close and personal with a variety of lethal close-range weapons, from the butt of your rifle, to the deadly electrostaff, and even a Jedi’s lightsaber. Use your weapon to defend yourself from enemy fire, or bash your way through the opposition. *'Character-driven A.I.': Star Wars Battlefront has never felt so alive. Your troops use advanced artificial intelligence to combine their unique skills and support your heroic actions. Snipers provide cover fire for foot soldiers while commanders order surgical bombing runs on the enemy’s base. Soldiers will use the resulting wreckage as cover, planning intelligently and independently as the environment changes around them. *'Enhanced Galactic Conquest': Fight from planet to planet for control of the entire galaxy. Build your army, choose which planet to conquer, and then get down and dirty on the front lines. Each planet that you capture provides a unique bonus that you can use before or during combat. Use planetary bonuses to recruit conquered inhabitants into your army, sabotage enemy vehicles, or even destroy entire planets with the Death Star. *'The Battle Erupts Online': Live the ultimate Star Wars battles online with up to 50 of your closest friends and enemies. Challenge a friend to a contest of strategy and skill, or team up and rewrite Star Wars history together. New game modes span land and space creating epic vertical mayhem. Snatch the enemy’s flag from the ground and then battle your way into space and plant it on your Star Destroyer for the win. Defend your base on the ground from the enemy’s onslaught from above in a brutal game of vertical assault. Technical Innovations *'Seamless transitions between ground and space without disempowering the player': There are no loading screens or pauses as the player travels from one area to another. Real-time memory streaming is continuous and transparent for the player. For the player, ground, air, space, and the capital ship interiors are one continuous environment. *'Visual Feedback of events occurring on opposite sides of the battlefront': Players will always know what’s occurring on other areas of the fight. This visual feedback changes the way that the Battlefront games are played, as players will now be able to make informed decisions on where to fight. *'Large number of units fighting at all times': Alongside the player will be a large number of A.I. units, both friendly and unfriendly, that will populate the battles. The large number will bring the epic fights seen in the Star Wars films to life on the console screen. *'Dynamic AI will use tactics and take advantage of changing battle conditions': The game uses a planner-based A.I. system which can formulate overall strategies based on pre-set goals. It is aware of other friendly A.I. units, and of its environment and can incorporate them into its plan. The Factions The four main factions from the 6 Star Wars films are all playable in Battlefront III. *'Confederacy of Independent Systems (C.I.S)': Comprised of several corporations including the Trade Federation and Commerce Guild, the main goal of the C.I.S. was to split from the Republic and form their own government. With armies comprised solely of droids, the C.I.S. are an extremely accurate adversary with a powerful range of weapons. However slow firing rates and limited armor are a weakness. *'Galactic Republic Clone Army': Created by the cloners on Kamino following an order from Jedi Master Sifo-Dyas, the Grand Army of the Republic was initially comprised of over two hundred thousand units from the genetic template of Jango Fett. The clones are highly trained yet less accurate then the droids. However, they are more resilient to damage and possess weapons with faster rates of fire. *'Galactic Empire': Established by Supreme Chancellor Palpatine to replace the Galactic Republic, the Galactic Empire rapidly became a totalitarian regime. The soldiers within its armies are less accurate than other factions and possess the least powerful weapons, but have much ammunition at their disposal. *'Rebel Alliance': Formed in direct military opposition to the Galactic Empire, the Rebel Alliance planned to remove the Emperor and restore rights to citizens throughout the galaxy. Having grown out of an underground resistance movement, the Rebels possess a range of unique and powerful weapons, but carry little ammunition. Playable Soldier Factions As with previous Battlefront games, the player can choose to play a number of different soldier classes. *'Infantry' *'Sniper' *'Engineer/Pilot' *'Heavy Weapons (Anti-Armor)' *'Commander (melee)' *'Special' – Each faction has a unique soldier class that is not shared with the other factions. **'C.I.S.: Droideka' – These heavily armed droids can roll themselves into the shape of a ball for fast travel, and activate a forward facing shield when deployed for battle. **'Clone Army: Jet Trooper' – Clone jet troopers possess a jetpack that gives them the ability to quickly travel great distances and bypass difficult (or non-existent) terrain. **'Empire: Dark Trooper' - These fearsome troopers are armed with a deadly electric weapon, and also wear a Jetpack giving them easy access to most areas of the battle. **'Rebels: Bothan Spy' – The rebel infiltrators can become practically invisible and are armed with a powerful disintegrator weapon. *'Faction Heroes/Villains' – Each map has a certain number of faction heroes available for , such as General Grievous, or Luke Skywalker. These heroes will have individual special abilities such as Force Powers, and unique Hero-specific weapons such as Luke Skywalker’s green lightsaber. These units are armed with unique Hero weapons . In addition, Jedi Heroes and Villains will have an array of Force Powers available to them. Heroes and Villains have special abilities when piloting vehicles, including but not limited to Force Powers. For example, a Jedi piloting a starfighter could use The Force to disrupt an enemy player’s target lock on their ship. Weapons Common Weapons: These weapon archetypes are shared across all factions. *'Blaster Rifles' – A standard laser assault rifle. *'Blaster Pistols' – A standard laser hand-gun. *'Shotguns' – A standard shotgun style Star Wars weapon. *'Sniper Rifles' – A standard laser sniper rifle. *'Thermal Detonators' – a Star Wars explosive grenade. *'Fusion Cutters' – A laser welder used by the engineer class to construct deployable structures, or repair mechanical objects such as vehicles. *'Rocket Launchers' – These heavy weapons are primarily used against armored targets. *'Mines' – Can be deployed over the ground and will explode on contact with the enemy. *'Detpacks' – Detpacks can be left behind and then detonated remotely by the player. *'Time Bomb' – Similar to the detpacks, except it detonates a fixed time after deployment. Unit Specific Weapons: *'Chaingun' – This is a repeating laser assault weapon with very high rate of fire. *'EMP Launcher' – This launcher fires EMP grenades that are good against droids. *'Grenade Launcher' – Similar to the EMP counterpart, this launcher fires explosive grenades. *'Wrist Blaster' – The C.I.S. Super Battle Droids are armed with lasers built onto their wrists. *'Lightsaber' – The iconic Star Wars Jedi weapon, lightsabers are akin to a sword whose blade is made out of laser energy. *'Wookiee Bowcaster' – A Star Wars twist on the medieval crossbow, the Wookiee Bowcaster hurls bolts of energy rather than metal. *'Incinerator' – This weapon is favored by Bothan spies. It can quickly disintegrate its target, but just as quickly uses up its store of energy. *'Flamethrower' – The bounty hunter Boba Fett employs a flame thrower to great effect. *'Arc Caster' – This deadly weapon uses electricity arcs to decimate the enemy ranks. Vehicles Each faction will have at least one vehicle in each category listed below. *'Scout Vehicles' - Lightly armed but fast moving vehicles that can get the player to the action, such as Speeder Bikes. *'Medium Assault Vehicles' – Armored vehicles that are effective against other medium attack vehicles and infantry. Examples of this type are the droid Hailfire Droids, or the Droid Snail Tanks. *'Heavy Assault Vehicles' – Heavily armored vehicles that also possess fearsome heavy weaponry, such as the Droid Spider Walker, or Imperial AT-ST. *'Heavy Assault Transports' – These vehicles are designed to deliver troops to the door-step of the enemy. The famous AT-ATs are in this category. *'Scout Fighters' – These speedy star fighters are designed to engage and destroy other star fighters. Examples are the A-wing and TIE Interceptor. *'Multi-Purpose Fighters' – These multi-role starfighters are agile enough to fight other starfighters, but also sport heavier weapons capable of damaging capital ships or ground targets. Examples of this type of starfighter are the X-wing and the V-wing. *'Bombers' – These starfighters are specifically designed to take down larger armored targets, but are not agile enough to dogfight effectively. Examples of these type are Y-wings and TIE Bombers. *'Troop Transports' – These ships are large enough to deploy several soldiers to the battlefront. In the game they will function as mobile spawn points. This includes such ships as the LAAT, or the Imperial Shuttle. *'Ground Vehicle Dropships' – These vehicles will be used to transport vehicles from capital ships in orbit down onto the ground. Examples of these are the GR-75 Transport, or the Droid Landing Ship. *'Hero Vehicles' – Some heroes will have their own starfighters recognizable from the movies such as the Millennium Falcon. Locations We plan to include 12 distinct locations with the shipped game. Each location will constitute a specific battle in Story Mode, which can also be played in Instant Action. *'Tatooine' – A desert planet, seen in many Star Wars films. *'Coruscant' – The galactic capital, the whole planet is covered with structures. *'Cato Neimoidia' – Seen briefly in Star Wars Episode III. *'Dantooine' – Village, Jedi Enclave, Canyons and Secret Hangar *'Death Star Construction Site' – Asteroid labor camp and Tributary Beam Array *'Yavin IV' – Classic location where the rebels destroy the first Death Star. *'Hoth' – Classic location where the Empire attempts to crush the rebellion before they can escape. *'Endor' – Site of the destruction of the Second Death Star, and the Emperor. *'Bespin' – Cloud City seen in Star Wars Episode V. *'Dathomir' – Orbiting shipyard, and Imperial Base on the ground. *'Mustafar' – Industrial world where lava flows instead of water. *'Kashyyyk' – The lush green homeworld of the Wookiees. Gameplay Features Learning Curve In all aspects of gameplay, we strive to avoid hard-core complexity, promote “pick up and play” accessibility, and entertain the player. With the vast number of choices available to players via the Vertical Battlefront and the range of weaponry, players will be encouraged to experiment and refine their play tactics. Rewards *'Star Points and Bonuses': Players will earn star points as they play. Star points can be used during the game to activate special bonuses, such as extra reinforcements, a Hero Vehicle, re-spawning a fallen leader, etc. *'Post-Battle Awards': awards are available to all players on a per-match basis. After each battle awards are presented to players based on their performance in the battle such as: Killing Spree (Most kills in 5 seconds), Traitor (killed most team mates), Bait (character the player killed the most), etc. *'Stat Tracking and Unlocks': The game will keep track of the players performance and save it with the player profile. Some types of accomplishments will be rewarded with the unlocking of more powerful variants of the standard weapons, or possibly other not yet determined awards. *'Trophy Case': The player will be awarded trophies throughout their BF3 career that they can view in a Trophy Case. It will be possible for them to see empty spaces for the trophies that they have not yet attained. Modes of Play Online/Offline: Instant Action: Get into the action with as few button presses as possible. Pick a world, pick a faction, a game mode, and start fighting. The instant action game modes are as follows: *Conquest Mode: Conquest mode is based around taking control of various Command Posts (CPs) located throughout the environment. Capturing a Command Post requires a friendly unit to be positioned within its radius for several seconds. *Traditional Assault: In Traditional Assault battles players are required to complete mission objectives across the Vertical Battlefront, with one team acting as the attackers and the other acting as the defenders. *Heroes vs. Villains: Two teams, one of hero characters (Luke Skywalker, Han Solo, etc.), and the other as villains (Darth Vader, Boba Fett, etc.), battle it out for supremacy. In BF3 these battles can move throughout the Vertical Battlefront. The first team to reduce the number of enemy Reinforcements to zero, or the team with the highest Reinforcement count after the time limit, wins. *Capture The Flag: Available in either one flag or two flag modes, two teams battle it out and attempt to score points by successfully capturing a flag and taking it to a designated location. In one flag mode the flag exists in a neutral location of the map and must be taken into the enemy teams base to score. In two flag mode a flag exists in both the ally and enemy bases. A team must capture the opposition’s flag and return it to their own base, and to their own flag, to score. *Hunt: Predator versus prey! In this mode one team assumes the role of hunters while the other are the hunted. The hunters must eliminate the hunted before the time limit expires, meaning it’s in the best interests of hunted players to remain unseen for as long as possible. If any hunted characters are still alive after the time limit, that team is deemed the winner. Offline-only: Split-Screen: Play Instant action or Galactic Conquest in Split-Screen mode, either cooperatively competitively. Galactic Conquest: Fight from planet to planet for control of the entire galaxy. Build your army, choose which planet to conquer, and then get down and dirty on the front lines. Each planet that you capture provides a unique bonus that you can use before or during combat. Use planetary bonuses to recruit conquered inhabitants into your army, sabotage enemy vehicles, or even destroy entire planets with the Death Star. Training and Challenges: The training sequence will introduce the player to all aspects of Battlefront 3. Through a series of fun and exciting scenarios these challenges will be designed to further enhance the players’ skills while offering rewards for impressive performances. Audio Vision The audio of the game will closely match the audio of the Star Wars films. Whenever possible we’re using the movie assets provided to us by Lucasfilm. This is the case for both sound and music. Game Dynamics Gameplay Physics Nearly all moving objects in the game consist of dynamic rigid bodies that can be interacted and collided with, such as crates, vehicles, characters, and pickups. When a character dies, it makes the transition to a ragdoll after an animated sequence. Physics will also determine the handling of vehicles, and their movement when they’re destroyed. The A.I. The overall goal of the Battlefront III A.I. system is to create the feeling that the A.I. units that populate the battlefront are working as a team in a coordinated way. To that end, the game’s A.I. units use a planner approach that gives them the ability to respond intelligently to changing game situations. The planner A.I. can analyze a situation, devise multiple solutions to overcome that situation, and then select a plan based on its assessment of how successful that course of action will be. These plans can include other NPCs, and even the player. The A.I. will be able to update or abandon its plan as the situation changes. The HUD For Battlefront III the on-screen display is being revised from its previous incarnations to maximize clarity for the player and provide scope for incorporating the new battle awareness system. A major new addition to BF3 is the appearance of a mini-view window in the upper-right corner of the screen. This will appear over the minimap at key moments and provide players with replays of events happening elsewhere across the Vertical Battlefront, and in the story campaign will provide views of mission objectives and additional story exposition. hudthing1.jpg|Mockup hudthing2.png|Mockup The Camera The game will default to a 3ʳᵈ person camera, just like Battlefront I and II. Battlefront III will also feature a 1ˢᵗ person camera view that will include cockpit views when piloting a vehicle. Control Method BasCont.png|Controls may change subject to play-testing. FliCon.png GroCon.png Game Structure Training Tutorial Battlefront III will feature a full tutorial that will train the player on all aspects of the game. The tutorial will be a stand-alone mission available from the Main Menu of the game. Training Challenges After completing the tutorial, players will be able to complete challenges designed to reinforce the skills showcased in the tutorial. Completing each challenge may earn the player a medal or trophy. Player Aids / Accessibility Battlefront III will include a number of player aids to remove hard-core complexity from gameplay. These include: *Aim Assistance – The game will assist the player with their aim when the target reticule is a tunable distance from the intended target. *Sticky Reticule – As long as the aim assistance is “on”, the reticule will stick to the intended target. This feature will be tuned so that it’s not obvious. *Landing Assistance – When players wish to land on a capital ship, they need to only approach the outside of the ship’s hangar. When they are close enough, they’ll be prompted to initiate an automatic landing sequence. Players are not required to use the automated landing and can choose to land manually if they wish by simply ignoring the prompt. *A.I. Assistance – The A.I. is designed to support the player’s actions. The player should feel as if they’re part of a coordinated effort in the battlefront. *Orbital Movement for Melee Combat - In melee or Jedi combat, lock on to a target will make the movement controls orbital to the target (c.f. Z lock in Zelda). The intention is to define an axis for the combat and to free up one control stick which may possibly be used to select or modify attacks. *“Leading” The Target - Space and aerial targeting reticules will give an indication of ‘leading’. This will let the players know how far ahead of a moving target they must fire their weapons in order to have a chance of hitting them. Player Profiles/Saves The player will be prompted to create a profile upon first loading the game. Their stats will be tracked on their profile for every game they play. Likewise, their progress through the single player story will be tracked in their profile. It will likely not be possible to save the game in the middle of a battle. Replay Appeal/Longevity Due to the large number of choices available to the player, they will be encouraged to spend time refining their tactics and trying new things. The medals and awards given for achieving various game feats further encourages replay in order to earn all the awards. Additionally, the game will keep track of one’s stats throughout their Battlefront III battles, thus empowering bragging rights and competition between players. Lastly, the online multiplayer component will ensure that no fight is ever the same as they compete against real live opponents. Multiplayer Split-screen Battlefront III will support up to 4 players split-screen in Instant Action, and 2 players split-screen in Galactic Conquest. Split-screen Galactic Conquest can either be played competitively or co-operatively against the A.I. Online Multiplayer Battlefront III will support up to 50 players online in any Instant Action game mode. Battlefront III will support the following features for Online Multiplayer: *Squad Support: During games players will be able to form squads with other members of their team. Any player can create a squad and send out invitations for others to join. Working as a squad players can: **Elect a leader to act as a mobile spawn point on the battlefront, and convey information about enemy unit locations. **Communicate vocally with each other. **Work together to tactically and strategically dominate the battlefront. *Clan Support: Full support for clans included for the first time with players able to: **Create and name a clan. **Invite others to join your clan. **Request entry into another clan. **Arrange special clan matches. **View statistics about their clan and the members in it. *Spectator Mode: By switching between a number of cameras positioned throughout the battlefront, players will be able to view a conflict in progress and watch as objectives are completed and command posts taken. Replays of multiplayer battles can be saved to a hard disk or memory card and shared with friends online. *Online Leaderboards: Players can compare their performances against others around the world through a range of online leader boards. These leader boards will be built around attributes such as: **Win-to-loss ratio **Number of star points achieved **Number of kills **How factions are doing against each other across the Battlefront universe. ***All leaderboards can be broken down into smaller categories allowing players to see how they’re doing… ****Against every other player ****Against just their friends ****In the last week ****On a certain map *Friend List: Battlefront III will include full support for a friend list, allowing players to see if their friends are online, and letting players join the same games as their friends if desired. *Lobbies: Players can talk to others participants in a battle before and after the match, or even set up their own lobbies for just their friends to join. Game Parameters In both online and offline battles, players can modify a number of parameters about their experience such as: *Number of A.I. characters in the battle. *Time limits *Whether hero characters are available *Number of reinforcements for each faction Technical Design Middleware Ageia PhysX (Novodex)- Novodex 2.4 has been integrated into the engine, and is currently used for all physics in the game, and collisions against polygonal meshes and the terrain heightfield. As Free Radical is a Linux-based developer, they are using a GCC dev environment. This has also been carried through to win32. Animation The animation system used within the game is based on a directed acyclic graph (DAG). Each node within the DAG controls a combination of acquiring raw animation data and processing on previously generated animation data. The DAG grants us a very flexible animation system that is targeted at the requirements of situation. For example, targeting of an enemy character in the game is handled with a node which uses an art driven IK based on game side inputs. The number of bones used in an average character is 80, the count in these is more inline with the cut scene characters use in Free Radical previous games (TimeSplitters, Second Sight). Additionally these bones are mainly placed within the face and hands. Given this bone number, it is important that processing time can be saved where the additional benefit of these bones would not be noticed, and for that reason the engine supports animation LOD. Rendering/Lighting/Geometry Geometry *300,000 -> 500,000 polys are rendered per frame. *Backgrounds 40,000 -> 60,000 visible polys rendered. *Characters 5000 -> 7000 polys around 4 levels of load halving the poly count on each lod, mainly generated automatically *Vehicles 6000 polys *FP Guns about the same weighting as a character *Other around 1000 polys Importantly, batches and different material setups that affect the pixel shader are also a measurable target. With this we aim to get a background model running with 100-200 batches. Level of detail is handled both automatically and with artist control. The tool chain has the ability to generate a reduced mesh using progressive mesh technology with the error generated using the QEM metric. Importantly, artists also have the ability to create custom lods and control the LOD used in rendering an object. The lighting of the backgrounds within the game is done by an off-line Lightmapper system. Lightmapping is handled by a distributed tool employing Monte Carlo global illumination. Using this method allows larger scenes than a method using radiosity would. At runtime this light map is combined with dynamic lights that use depth based buffers to handle shadowing. The use of buffers makes it possible to use soft shadows as needed. The light map is also volumetric and allows dynamic objects to be lit. The core rendering of the engine is shader driven, this is subsequently exposed to the artists within a custom maya shader. That flexibility allows the possibility of exposing effects as needed to the game without changing the engine. We also support a large number of full screen effects including depth of field, colorization, and motion blur. These are setup via artists and controlled via game designers helping to bring the game to life. Audio The audio is centered on a distance attenuation model that takes into account the flow of the sound through the level. This is then mixed via Multistream allowing many of built-in effects to be used by the sound designers to reflect the mood and feeling of the situation and environment. File I/O A combination of pak files, compression and optimized load order allows disk access time to be minimized. The engine supports streaming assets in as appropriate so it is important that work is shared between the drive and the SPUs present on the PS3. Physics As noted in the middleware section, we are using Ageia PhysX SDK to handle game physics within the game. Camera The camera will be placed by artists and designers, as its position affects the gameplay. In addition, there will be game-logic driven camera effects such as camera shakes in order to further the player experience. Logic/AI Battlefront III utilizes a proprietary AI system called Conspire. This system is built on a foundation of planned behavior as opposed to reactive behavior. This allows characters in Battlefront III to formulate strategies, work together, and utilize their environment in an intelligent manner. Storage Media The game will be shipped in blu-ray media. The engine supports downloadable content and patches. Development Schedule *1st Playable - 12/18/2006 *Pre-Alpha - 2/18/2008 *Alpha - 3/17/2008 *Beta (RC1) - 8/1/2008 *PS3 Cert. Submission - 8/8/2008 Development Team Profile DevTeamProf01.png |-|Xbox 360 Submission= Screenshot_1.png X3602.png Screenshot_3.png x3604.png Screenshot_5.png X3606.png x3607.png x3608_!.png Screenshot_9.png |-|X360 Showcases and Essentials Answers= What is the likelihood of this title hitting the High Def (720p)? We intend to support High-definition at 720p at 16:9 aspect ratio. The title will use 1280 x 720 resolution. We will be supporting 4:3 aspect ratio for legacy displays. What is the likelihood of this title hitting the High Def (Anti-Aliasing)? We are still investigating and hope to support at least 2xAA. We are unlikely to support 4xAA as this would require Predicated-Tiling, which we would rather avoid. We may use software anti-aliasing or some method that doesn't require large buffers, and are open to implementation ideas for this. What is the likelihood of this title using Predicated Tiling? This is unlikely. We do not want to use Predicated Tiling as it overcomplicates the rendering loop, as well as being slower. We will be making much use of render-to-texture and picture-within-picture and feel that this would complicate the issue. What is the likelihood of this title hitting the Achievements essential? We have found that the achievements and Gamerscore aspects of the Xbox Live experience have proven extremely popular with players. Therefore we intend to put a great deal of effort into hitting the achievement essential. It’s a little too early in the development of the project for us to be pinning down an exact number of achievements, but we will definitely be looking to spread them across all game modes, including single player and multiplayer. Along with traditional achievements for tasks such as completing story levels on various difficulty settings, and completing Galactic Conquest story scenarios, our aim is to include achievements that reward continued play and advanced levels of skill while never resorting to tasks of simple time or attrition. So for example, although we’re reluctant to pin down exact achievement details at this stage, playing 1000 games online is unlikely to be an achievement in BF3, but single-handedly taking down an Imperial Star Destroyer by boarding it, battling to the reactor core and planting explosives, before racing to an escape pod and blasting out into space - all without losing a life, could be. What is the likelihood of this title hitting the Rich Presence essential? We are very keen on hitting the Rich Presence essential in BF3. We feel that both the setting of the game and its nature are perfect for a feature such as this and aim to communicate a great number of battle aspects through the system blade. Again, although we’re reluctant to go into specifics at this stage, the style of messages we’re looking to include for online game modes is: *Invasion of Hoth - > Request Support *Held back on Endor - > Request Support *Fighting over Kashyyyk - > Piloting an X-Wing Support for single-player Rich Presence is also intended for inclusion. To provide some examples: *Battling on Coruscant - > Assaulting C.I.S. Cruiser *Defending Tatooine - > Fighting Krayt Dragon What is the likelihood of this title hitting the User Generated Content (Playable) Showcase? We do not intend to support User Generated Content. What is the likelihood of this title hitting the Downloadable Content (Playable Game add-ons) Showcase? The title will have packs of characters, weapons, vehicles and environments that will be available to download. This will be premium content that will be available for use in instant-action (multiplayer or single-player versus bots). It is intended that this content be available when the game is released. In online multiplayer, a player without the additional content will not be able to join matches set on levels from the premium content. Such a player could, however, join a match where other players are playing with premium characters and weapons, but they would not get access to these themselves. Premium vehicles will be restricted to premium levels. What is the likelihood of this title hitting the Downloadable Content (Non-playble game-related content) Showcase? Unknown at this moment. What is the likelihood of this title hitting the Downloadable Content (Demo) Showcase? We intend to release a playable demo on both Marketplace and OXM. What is the likelihood of this title hitting the Co-op Showcase? We intend to support Co-op both online and offline in Instant Action, with up to 4 players split-screen. We also intend to support Co-op in Galactic Conquest with 2 players, either split-screen offline, or single-screen online. What is the likelihood of this title hitting the Camera Showcase? We have no plans to support the Xbox 360 camera. What is the likelihood of this title hitting the Spectator Mode Showcase? We are still investigating this, but we hope to offer massive spectator mode support.Cameras will automatically follow the action around the environment. Due to the epic nature of the battlefield, this will look particularly exciting. What is the likelihood of this title hitting the Approachability (Tutorial) SHOWCASE? For the benefit of the Approachability SHOWCASE and the game as a whole, BF3 will feature a thorough training mission that will teach players all they need to know (in terms of both controls and mechanics), in order to play the game. This training mission will follow the ‘learn by doing’ adage and will teach players the skills and concepts necessary to progress further, in both single and multiplayer. It will be built right into the heart of an intense conflict scenario involving the Republic Clone Army desperately trying to prevent a sudden C.I.S. invasion of Tatooine, and will include a surprise confrontation with an enormous Krayt Dragon. What is the likelihood of this title hitting the Approachability (Dynamic Difficulty) Showcase? We don't know yet. The game is unlikely to dynamically adjust the level of difficulty, as we prefer to allow the player themselves to set the level of challenge they would like (ie Easy, Normal, Hard). References *Star Wars Battlefront III PS3 Concept Submission.doc (15/09/2006, last modified by GGC) *Battlefront III Xbox 360 CSF v1.5 (12/09/206, last modified by GGC) *X360 Showcases and Essentials Answers.doc (23/06/2006, last modified by Steve Ellis) Category:Internal & Technical